Constraining the Progenitor Companion of the Nearby Type Ia SN 2011fe with a Nebular Spectrum at +981 Days

Abstract

We present an optical nebular spectrum of the nearby Type Ia supernova 2011fe, obtained 981 days after explosion. SN 2011fe exhibits little evolution since the +593 day optical spectrum, but there are several curious aspects in this new extremely late-time regime. We suggest that the persistence of the $\sim 5800$~Å feature is due to Na I D, and that a new emission feature at $\sim 7300$~Å may be [Ca II]. Also, we discuss whether the new emission feature at $\sim 6400$~Å might be [Fe I] or the high-velocity hydrogen predicted by Mazzali et al. The nebular feature at 5200~Å exhibits a linear velocity evolution of $\sim 350$ $\mathrm{km}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$ per 100 days from at least +220 to +980 days, but the line's shape also changes in this time, suggesting that line blending contributes to the evolution. At $\sim 1000$ days after explosion, flux from the SN has declined to a point where contribution from a luminous secondary could be detected. In this work we make the first observational tests for a post-impact remnant star and constrain its temperature and luminosity to $T\gtrsim 10^4$ $\mathrm{K}$ and $L\lesssim 10^4$ ${\mathrm{L}}_{\odot }$. Additionally, we do not see any evidence for narrow H$\alpha$ emission in our spectrum. We conclude that observations continue to strongly exclude many single-degenerate scenarios for SN 2011fe.

11 pages, 10 figures, published by MNRAS

References in corpus (13)

• Constraining the Type Ia Supernova Progenitor: The Search for Hydrogen in Nebular Spectra
• Type Ia Supernovae as Stellar Endpoints and Cosmological Tools
• Uncovering the Putative B-Star Binary Companion of the SN 1993J Progenitor
• Nebular spectra and abundance tomography of the type Ia supernova SN 2011fe: a normal SN Ia with a stable Fe core
• Constraints on the Progenitor System of the Type Ia Supernova 2014J from Pre-Explosion Hubble Space Telescope Imaging
• Possible Detection of the Stellar Donor or Remnant for the Type Iax Supernova 2008ha
• No trace of a single-degenerate companion in late spectra of SNe 2011fe and 2014J
• Twins for life? A comparative analysis of the Type Ia supernovae 2011fe and 2011by
• Progenitor constraints on the Type-Ia supernova SN2011fe from pre-explosion Hubble Space Telescope HeII narrow-band observations
• Spectroscopy of the Type Ia supernova 2011fe past 1000 days
• Jet formation in GRBs: A semi-analytic model of MHD flow in Kerr geometry with realistic plasma injection
• Very late photometry of SN 2011fe
• Multi-epoch Sub-arcsecond [Fe II] Spectroimaging of the DG Tau Outflows with NIFS. II. On the Nature of the Bipolar Outflow Asymmetry

Cited by in corpus (48)

• Type Ia Supernova Explosions in Binary Systems: A Review
• Mass-accreting white dwarfs and type Ia supernovae
• A Deep Search for Prompt Radio Emission from Thermonuclear Supernovae with the Very Large Array
• The nucleosynthetic history of elements in the Galactic disk: [X/Fe] - age relations from high-precision spectroscopy
• Optical Observations of the Type Ia Supernova 2011fe in M101 for Nearly 500 Days
• Using late-time optical and near-infrared spectra to constrain Type Ia supernova explosion properties
• Nebular-Phase Spectra of Nearby Type Ia Supernovae
• Reconciling the infrared catastrophe and observations of SN 2011fe
• Whimper of a Bang: Documenting the Final Days of the Nearby Type Ia Supernova 2011fe
• The double-degenerate model for the progenitors of type Ia supernovae
• The late-time light curve of the type Ia supernova SN 2011fe
• Delayed Circumstellar Interaction for Type Ia SN 2015cp Revealed by an HST Ultraviolet Imaging Survey
• Single-Degenerate Type Ia Supernovae Are Preferentially Overluminous
• Nebular Spectroscopy of Kepler's Brightest Supernova
• The violent white dwarf merger scenario for the progenitors of type Ia supernovae
• Late-time Flattening of Type Ia Supernova Light Curves: Constraints From SN 2014J in M82
• Type Ia Supernova Explosions from Hybrid Carbon-Oxygen-Neon White Dwarf Progenitors
• No hot and luminous progenitor for Tycho's supernova
• Progressive Red Shifts in the Late-Time Spectra of Type Ia Supernovae
• Observations of SN 2015F suggest a correlation between the intrinsic luminosity of Type Ia supernovae and the shape of their light curves >900 days after explosion
• Constraining The Single-Degenerate Channel of Type Ia Supernovae With Stable Iron-Group Elements in SNR 3C 397
• SN 2012dn from early to late times: 09dc-like supernovae reassessed
• PTF11kx: A Type Ia Supernova with Hydrogen Emission Persisting After 3.5 Years
• Confirmation of Hostless Type Ia Supernovae Using Hubble Space Telescope Imaging
• The progenitors of type Ia supernovae in the semidetached binaries with red giant donors
• The outcomes of carbon-oxygen white dwarfs accreting CO-rich material
• A Rapid Ionization Change in the Nebular-Phase Spectra of the Type Ia SN 2011fe
• Normal type Ia supernovae from disruptions of hybrid He-CO white-dwarfs by CO white-dwarfs
• A year-long plateau in the late-time near-infrared light curves of Type Ia supernovae
• Observations of Type Ia Supernova 2014J for Nearly 900 Days and Constraints on Its Progenitor System
• Late-Time Observations of ASASSN-14lp Strengthen the Case for a Correlation between the Peak Luminosity of Type Ia Supernovae and the Shape of their Late-Time Light Curves
• The Whisper of a Whimper of a Bang: 2400 Days of the Type Ia SN 2011fe Reveals the Decay of ${}^{55}$Fe
• The intermediate nebular phase of SN 2014J: onset of clumping as the source of recombination
• Late-Time Observations of Type Ia Supernova SN 2014J with the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3
• Nebular-Phase Spectra of Type Ia Supernovae from the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Supernova Project
• The Late-Time Light Curves of Type Ia Supernovae: Confronting Models with Observations
• Progenitor constraints on the Type Ia supernova SN 2014J from Hubble Space Telescope H$\beta$ and [O III] observations
• Signatures of a surviving helium-star companion in Type Ia supernovae and constraints on the progenitor companion of SN 2011fe
• Paving the way to simultaneous multi-wavelength astronomy
• Can the Helium-Enriched Main-Sequence Donor Scenario Hide Enough Hydrogen to Explain Type Ia Supernovae?
• Searching for late-time interaction signatures in Type Ia supernovae from the Zwicky Transient Facility
• Near-infrared and Optical Nebular-phase Spectra of Type Ia Supernovae SN 2013aa and SN 2017cbv in NGC 5643
• Optical and ultraviolet spectroscopic analysis of SN 2011fe at late times
• Abundance stratification in type Ia supernovae -- VI: the peculiar slow decliner SN\,1999aa
• The HST Non-Detection of SN Ia 2011fe 11.5yr After Explosion Further Restricts Single-Degenerate Progenitor Systems
• Narrow Transient Absorptions in Late-Time Optical Spectra of Type Ia Supernovae: Evidence for Large Clumps of Iron-Rich Ejecta?
• An Optical and Near-Infrared Study of the Type Ia/IIn Supernova PS15si
• Producing type Ia supernovae from hybrid CONe white dwarfs with main-sequence binary companions at low metallicity of Z = 0.0001